Sprint is expected to sign network-sharing deals with both LightSquared and Clearwire this month according to a Credit Suisse analyst. It’ll be an interesting move, especially with the prior tensions between Sprint and Clearwire, and of course it will spark more rumors for Sprint possibly ditching WiMax for LTE (though I highly doubt it).
IB Times reports:
“We have assumed the same basic deal terms for both LightSquared and Clearwire in the analysis that follows: We assume partners pay Sprint $2,400 per base station per month. We assume both LightSquared and Clearwire will pay 50 percent in cash and 50 percent in capacity. We assume $700 per site per month per partner in incremental operating expenditure,” said Jonathan Chaplin, an analyst at Credit Suisse.
It’s assumed that Sprint will have to fork over $2.2 billion up front, but that it will be offset with an up-front payment from LightSquared of $500 million. The report continues:
Chaplin assumes Sprint owns 100 percent of the radio access network, while the partners own 100 percent of their spectrum and elements of their own core network. This avoids the complexities of joint ownership that has been an issue in network sharing deals in other markets.
“We assume LightSquared leases access to all 45,000 Sprint base stations, giving them a nationwide network. We assume they lease base stations at the pace that Sprint installs them, with lease payments starting at the beginning of 2012 and covering all 45,000 base stations by the end of 2013,” said Chaplin.
It’s estimated that the deals will be done within a year, and that everything will be covered by the end of 2013.
[Via: IB Times]